If the Democratic Party had to come up with an ideal candidate to challenge Republican Rep. Mike Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot and business executive, for the 27th Congressional District, they couldn't have imagined anyone much better than George Whitesides.
In a district that stretches from Santa Clarita to Lancaster and where the aerospace industry is a major one, Whitesides has had a career focused on space, both in the private and public sectors. He was chief of staff for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the Obama administration and later became CEO of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s commercial space company based in Mojave. That’s the job that brought him and his family to the Antelope Valley in 2012.
His resume, impressive as it is, isn’t the most compelling reason for voters to elect Whitesides on Nov. 5. He’s a smart, pragmatic Democrat whose goal in Congress is to work with colleagues, regardless of party, to address the problems facing Americans. That’s an important characteristic for the next representative of this district. Traditionally, this has been a safe seat for Republicans, but a shift in voter registration in recent years means Democrats have made some gains. For example, President Biden won the district in 2020, but Gov. Gavin Newsom came in second in 2022.
Recently, the issue Whitesides has been focused on is one that has plagued California: “megafires” — massive wildfires like the Camp Fire that tore through the town of Paradise in 2018. In 2020, Whitesides left Virgin Galactic to co-found a new advocacy organization, Megafire Action, which focuses on pushing for policies to prevent wildfires, harden housing in high-risk areas, and use science to better fight fires. He plans to turn what he’s learned into legislation that addresses related issues, including the insurance crisis, wildland management, and incentivizing homeowners to make their properties more fire-resilient.
But most importantly, he is the only candidate in the race who will fight to protect two cherished fundamental rights that have been under attack in recent years: the right of women to control their own bodies and the right to cast a vote in a free and fair election.
Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) is one of the lawmakers working to undermine those rights. When he won the seat in a special election in 2020 after Democrat Katie Hill resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, Garcia was a political unknown with an appealing record of military service, a pro-business platform and real-life experience in real estate and as a Raytheon executive.
But his votes quickly revealed that Garcia is no moderate. After the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he voted against certifying the election results. He was a co-sponsor of the Life Since Conception Act, a bill that would have banned abortion nationwide, with no exceptions, including one to save the woman’s life. He even voted against a bill protecting the right to birth control. If voters send him back to Congress, Garcia will be a reliable vote in favor of restrictions on reproductive rights.
She also appears to have adopted Donald Trump’s tendency to twist the truth. In her first campaign ad of this election, Garcia boasts that she co-sponsored the Violence Against Women Act to protect women from domestic violence. What she co-sponsored was a false version put forth by Republicans to derail the Democrats’ bill to reauthorize the 1994 law with expanded protections for LGBTQ+ people and firearm restrictions for people convicted of domestic abuse. Fortunately, the tactic didn’t work and the updated law passed — without Garcia’s vote.
Whitesides also identifies himself as a business-friendly moderate, specifically a “New Democrat.” This coalition of centrist members says they focus on innovative solutions and working across party lines. He also has a track record of building the kind of bridges he wants to see in Congress.
Early in the COVID pandemic, Whitesides helped organize local aerospace leaders to work with hospitals and local government to provide resources to frontline health care workers. The group, which eventually became the Antelope Valley COVID Task Force, even leveraged his engineering skills to develop medical equipment like oxygen hoods that helped COVID patients breathe. Anyone can cast a vote along party lines, but being able to build alliances is a critical skill to accomplish anything in Congress.
Whitesides says she is running to build a better future for her two children. “I don’t want to leave them with a government that doesn’t work. I don’t want to leave them with a climate in crisis. I don’t want to leave them with an epidemic of gun safety.”
Neither do we. It's time for a change of leadership in the 27th Congressional District.
